Minnesota’s waterfowl and wetlands leaders are forging ahead with a new funding proposal to restore and buy more critical wetland habitat in the state.

By Friday, they plan to have a draft list of funding priorities that will be presented in two weeks to the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council.

Last Wednesday, about three-dozen conservation group leaders and agency managers met for eight hours in a hastily organized coalition to talk about wetland priorities.

They are scheduled to make a final funding presentation Feb. 9 to the council, which is charged with drawing up spending plans for the new $78 million Outdoor Heritage Fund, which draws upon one-third of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment money.

In addition to wetlands, the council will examine funding Outdoor Heritage Fund priorities in three other areas: prairies, forests and fish and game habitat.

While the wetlands group didn’t reach agreement on every priority Wednesday, they agreed a high priority is programs whose matching funds may be running out soon and are “shovel-ready.”

“It’s a challenge to get broad input from such a large group of people,” said John Jaschke, executive of the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources. “But I think we’re closer than we were before.”

Many at Wednesday’s meeting said the state’s Prairie Pothole Region, which has lost up to 90 percent of its wetlands, should be a funding priority.

The Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a backlog of willing landowners who want to sell wetlands for Wildlife Management Areas and Waterfowl Production Areas, officials said. Those projects also partner with groups like Pheasants Forever and Ducks Unlimited.

The Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) Reserve Partnership Program is one of the largest projects on the table. The state is in line to get $15 million in federal funds, which needs $11 million in state funds, to pay for permanent restoration and easements on 8,000 wetland acres. There is a deadline, though, to allocate the funds. The program also partners with conservation groups.

In the past, the state has used bonding money for the project.

Ducks Unlimited is seeking funding for its Living Lakes program, which restores water-quality in key waterfowl lakes. The DNR is a partner in that program.

Several other land-trust organizations and local conservation groups are seeking money for land acquisitions and wetland protection.

There isn’t enough money to fund all the projects, so the wetlands leaders will have the difficult job in the next two weeks of paring down priorities.

Don’t feed deer: While this winter is more harsh than usual, Minnesota DNR managers say deer herds in northern Minnesota are surviving well and don’t need to be fed. The agency already is getting calls whether the state will begin a feeding program, but it is unlikely that will happen.

In the winter, “deer have insulating hollow hair that helps them retain body heat, their metabolism slows down, and they live on browse and body fat reserves,” said Jeff Lightfoot, DNR Northeast Region wildlife manager,

Slush still plaguing northern lakes: Despite recent bitterly cold temperatures, anglers are still fighting slush on some lakes. The slush bogs down vehicles and fish houses.

Conservation officers reported slush problems in the following areas: Wadena, Hibbing, Perham and Moorhead. But anglers say the slush problem is persistent in many parts of the lake, as is deep snow that makes lake travel difficult.

Did you know?

Today is the last day of the Minneapolis Boat Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Alliance holds its legislative banquet Wednesday evening at the Holiday Inn East in St. Paul.

Minnesota conservation officer Patrick McGowan recently investigated a car-killed gray wolf on Interstate 35 near Stacy, Minn. In the past, gray wolves have been killed in car collisions as close as Forest Lake and in southeastern Minnesota.

Some ambitious trout anglers ventured into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness when the season opened Jan. 15. The temperature? Minus 40 degrees.

A Hibbing, Minn., officer clocked a snowmobiler at 94 mph on a day when it was minus 6 degrees, making for unusually low wind chill. The snowmobiler was warned that had he crashed, he may have frozen to death before being found.

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